William Lee “Bill” Crabtree Jr. had a tough exterior, but a tender heart that he devoted to teaching, coaching and making Grand Prairie better — especially for teenagers.

He made many lasting relationships across the city during his nearly 30-year career with the district, where he was an administrator when he retired in 1997.

“So many of us are uncomfortable around teenagers, but boy, high school was his age and they knew it,” said his wife, Linda Crabtree of Holly Lake Ranch. “It was like he was a magnet for them.”

Mr. Crabtree, 67, died Tuesday of natural causes at Mother Frances Hospital-Tyler, where he had been hospitalized for 18 days.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Hawkins. He will be buried in Hawkins Cemetery.

Friends and family plan to gather from in his honor 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 11 in the Fireside Room at First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie.

Mr. Crabtree’s accomplishments included establishing a good working relationship between the school district and the Grand Prairie Police Department, said Vern Alexander, a GPISD deputy superintendent. The program introduced resource officers to the high school.

“He was just a friend to everybody that he came into contact with,” Dr. Alexander said. “It was easy to build a relationship with him because he had that kind of personality that was open and warm.”

Dr. Alexander was a campus administrator and Mr. Crabtree was an assistant superintendent when the two first worked together.

He was full of passion as a teacher, coach and civic leader, said David Hooper, one of Mr. Crabtree’s students who later worked with him as a Grand Prairie police officer.

“He had a passion for young people,” Mr. Hooper said. “He had a passion for standards he expected you to meet — and if you couldn’t get there, he’d help you.”

Many people in Grand Prairie are feeling the loss of Mr. Crabtree, Mr. Hooper said.

“Bill knew a lot of people — politically and otherwise — and he would use those friendships and that influence not for his own gain, but for other people,” Mr. Hooper said. “I saw him do that a hundred million times.”

The Grand Prairie Police Department recognized the educator on several occasions, including awarding him with its only Honorary Chief Award.

Although Mr. Crabtree was respected for his work with groups including the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, his legacy is as an educator. He built his reputation on a foundation laid by his parents, Mrs. Crabtree said.

He was born in Montgomery, Ala., and lived in Altus, Okla., until he started the ninth grade, when the family moved to Commerce, Texas.

Mr. Crabtree’s father, Bill “Doc” Crabtree, was an Athletic Hall of Fame tennis coach at what is now Texas A&M-Commerce. His mother, Mary Crabtree, was the girls’ coach at Commerce High School.

“His parents were sort of the same way,” Mrs. Crabtree said. “Doc was always bringing home some tennis player who had gotten into trouble. So even though he was an only child — that’s what he grew up with — that nurturing environment. That really shaped him.”

Mr. Crabtree was educated at East Texas State University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1968 and his master’s degree in 1970.

He started teaching history and government in 1970 at Grand Prairie High School, where he was also the tennis coach.

He became the high school’s assistant principal in 1975 and joined the district’s central administration staff in 1979. He held several positions with central administration until he retired.

Mr. Crabtree never lost his passion for helping teenagers, his wife said.

“He was interested in them and what they were doing,” she said. “‘How can I help you be successful?’ — that was always his attitude to the very end.”

Mr. Crabtree also taught as an adjunct at Dallas Baptist University and Texas A&M-Commerce.

He moved to Holly Lake Ranch in 2011 and was a substitute teacher in the Hawkins schools.

Mr. Crabtree had been a member of First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie since 1970, but became an associate member of First United Methodist Church since he moved to Holly Lake Ranch. Ministers from both churches will preside at his funeral.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Crabtree is survived by a daughter, Leslie DeWald of Hot Springs Village, Ark.; and four grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church Grand Prairie, First United Methodist Church of Hawkins, the SPCA or the Grand Prairie Independent School District Foundation.

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